Intersections: Technology and Public Services in Special Collections, a Penn State Symposium

A little over two years ago, the Eberly Family Special Collections took one giant step for patron-kind with the implementation of Aeon, a request and workflow management software designed for special collections libraries and archives.

[It doesn’t sound very exciting stated like that… Open your favorite music platform and queue up “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss. Hit play.]

But for our staff, it was like we asked for a wheel to travel to the digital age and Atlas Systems said, “What do you think of a space shuttle instead?” It’s pretty much been a “my god, it’s full of stars” moment (as exclaimed in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Since then, we have been better connected with patrons around the world and streamlined staff workflows at the same time.

This year we offered to host the third Aeon Symposium at Penn State (Aug. 6-8). We’re so excited to bring this symposium here because it’s not just about a single software platform this time around. In fact, the 2017 Intersections symposium will build on its predecessors (the Aeon Symposium at Yale in 2015 and at the University of Michigan in 2016) to expand on what it means to provide access to collections in the archives and special collections environment.

Though Aeon remains a key tool, partner, and product of focus, Intersections also includes other workflows, tools, partners, and products that are present in our daily work.

This symposium also aligns and incorporates many of the key components of the RBMS (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of ACRL) and SAA’s (Society of American Archivists) Metrics and Assessment Task Force report to broach broader topics with regard to assessing impact via meaningful metrics.

Targeted toward special collections colleagues across the field, attendees are exploring how technology, assessment, and public service intersect to support discovery and access of cultural heritage collections.

Image: Geocache of Symposium attendee institutional locations (created by Tim Babcock)

Public service special collections professionals truly work at the intersection of where technology meets end-users’ needs. We are delighted to be the venue for what promises to be an interesting and informative symposium that will reverberate across the rare and archival world of academic libraries.

– submitted by Alex Bainbridge Arginteau